The Desert Diva …in the desert of course!
I’ve read about this fish farm on various websites but many have tried and failed to find it, and some may think it is just an urban desert legend. I love a challenge so spent a happy hour or two using Google Earth to scour the Liwa area and I managed to locate it. The co-ordinates are: N23 05.066 E53 33.667.
We visited early in the morning and even though it was the end of June it wasn’t too hot to walk around. Turn up at the farm and Shah will show you around, although he doesn’t speak english, only urdu and arabic.
You don’t see it from the satellite shot but there is a large hatchery with a few different breeds of fish in it, all at various sizes of their development.
Do you get the feeling the occupants of this tank were expecting us to arrive with breakfast!
It’s not easy to get a good picture of the nursery tanks but you get the idea – I think these could have been the tiliapa.
These goldfish (or “reds” as Shah called them) woudn’t get bored swimming round this pond
You can’t get the full scale of the ponds from the satellite image – they are massive and all have some fish in them.
You were free to walk around the farm and we were lucky enough to meet the owner who lives in the big red-roofed villa beyond. He speaks a little bit of english but not enough to tell us the breeds of fish he has!
The fish farm sells fish for 50aed/kilo, and I suspect that price will be negotiable. How cool would it be to spend the day driving on the sands, then buying some fresh fish to BBQ in the desert!
Our tour didn’t stop at fish – Shah picked us some lovely dates which were light gold and very sweet. There is no entry fee to this unique attraction so we bid Shah farewell with a bottle of 7-up with a banknote note rolled round it.
While you are in the fish farm area of Madhar Kannoor, why not explore the neighbouring plantations and villages? We happened across this watchtower and a very unusually shaped mosque. The watchtower is open to wander around but the mosque is only accessible to Muslims. There’s a small grocery shop at N23 06.185 E53 36.310 which has a good selection of cold drinks and snacks.
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Terryl Lewis says:
Yes – it was quite amazing!! Dates ate chopped as I write ready for that date cake!! I was lucky to be the passenger!! X